FTC Sues Over Do-Not-Call Claims

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FTC Sues Over Do-Not-Call Claims

WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission is suing an Internet operation that allegedly fleeced consumers by using the agency's own national do-not-call registry as bait.

The FTC said Thursday that it asked a federal judge to prevent two websites – Free-Do-Not-Call-List.org and National-Do-Not-Call-List.us – from making deceptive claims that they can pre-register consumers for the FTC's do-not-call list. One of the sites charges a fee for the service, the FTC said.

The agency's registry is actually free and will begin signing up people on July 1.

"These scam artists are seizing on the public's interest in the do-not-call registry," said Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "The law doesn't allow third-party profiteers to be in the do-not-call business."

The FTC's national do-not-call list is intended to block many unwanted telemarketing calls. The agency plans to launch a website in July so consumers can register, and will begin an eight-week rollout of a toll-free phone number people can call to register.

Beginning in September, telemarketers will have to check the list every three months to determine who does not want to be called. Telemarketers who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. Consumers would be able to file complaints by phone or online to an automated system.

The FTC said it had filed a complaint Tuesday against Ken Chase of Novato, California, who allegedly ran the two websites since early this year.

A phone number for Chase could not be located. The websites were not functioning late Thursday.

Consumers who responded to the sites received an e-mail stating that their pre-registration was received and their "information will been transmitted to the FTC as soon as the list becomes available," the FTC said.

The agency said one of the sites advertises a subscription service for blocking telemarketing calls, unsolicited faxes and junk mail. The service, which costs from $9.99 to $17.99 per year, falsely claims it can place people on the government's national do-not-call registry, the FTC said.

The FTC said consumers who were deceived by the sites might not sign up for the real list when it becomes available.

The agency filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

In June, the FTC warned that identity thieves posing as FTC officials working on the do-not-call list were calling consumers in attempts to trick them into volunteering personal information such as Social Security, bank account and credit card numbers.

The agency said identity thieves can use the personal information to open accounts and run up debts in the victim's name.

In April 2002, New York officials warned of a ploy trying to take advantage of the state's do-not-call registry. That registry is also a free service, but con artists were calling with offers to place consumers on the list for a fee of up to $10.